“I have no doubt that it will be the votes of MPs who support New Democracy. Without exception,” Economy and Finance Minister Kostis Hatzidakis told ERTNews shortly before the budget was presented to the parliament.

As he explained, “this is because the budget is in a very positive direction. It reflects the rise of the economy and on the other hand, because all my colleagues are not waiting for me to understand the importance of the stability and the positive outlook of the country. And this is only ensured through a government of New Democracy. There is no alternative. It would be a paradox if something different were to happen. There is no such scenario.”

“Samaras had said he would vote for the budget, I guess he means it”

On Samaras and whether he would vote positively on the budget if he is in parliament, Hatzidakis said he expects to vote for it. “He had said in his interview with Vima that he would vote for the budget. I imagine he means it. I have no reason to believe otherwise, but I don’t think that’s the point. The issue is that the parliamentary group of the New Democracy is solid,” he said.

Hatzidakis added that “everywhere we have made very significant progress” and that “it would be paradoxical at this moment to create a political crisis in Greece and waste the progress that has been achieved in the last five years and the sacrifices of Greek citizens. It would be like a shipwreck in a port.”

“We are on the right track, we have started to converge with the EU average”

Speaking about unemployment, investment, exports, and the investment grade, Hatzidakis said, “We are on the right track.”

He stressed that, “we have started to converge with the European Union average, although the starting point is very low. Of course, so far we have positive results both in the fiscal field and in the development field. Given that I now consider what has been achieved in the fiscal field an achievement – provided, of course, that we continue to be serious and credible – we will have the fourth highest primary surplus in the entire European Union and a deficit that will be close to zero.”

“We will cut 12 taxes, dominated by a reduction in social security contributions”

Regarding the tax cuts, Hatzidakis said, “We will cut 12 taxes with the reduction of social security contributions predominant and we will come to the average of the European Union. And it is a good signal for competitiveness and this is linked to the fact that, apart from the fiscal, the emphasis from now on should be on growth and exports.”